Tag: Libby Johns

Photo of Sargassum Floating in Open Water. Photo Credit: Credit: NOAA Teacher at Sea Program, NOAA Ship OREGON II Blue economy

Chasing Sargassum: New Insights on Coastal Sargassum Invasions

The ways in which Sargassum has invaded the tropical Atlantic have been a mystery, but we may now have an answer. A new study in Progress in Oceanography, led by researchers at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), identifies possible mechanisms and pathways by which Sargassum entered and flourished in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean.

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Trajectories of all drifters that were deployed during the January 2007 cruise. The drifters were drogued at 15 m depth, and each point represents a 6 hour subsampled location of a drifter. The trajectories clearly show the northern and southern circulation regimes, and illustrate the connectivity between the MBRS, Gulf of Mexico, south Florida, and Cuba coastal waters. Image Credit: NOAA

Pathways and hydrography in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System

The results of two oceanographic cruises conducted in the Mexican and Belizean shelf waters over the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef during 2006 and 2007 show that the circulation can be divided into two distinct regimes: a northern region dominated by the strong, northward-flowing Yucatan Current, and a southern region with weaker southward coastal currents and the presence of the Honduras Gyre.

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A pair of bottlenose dolphins cruising behind the Nancy Foster. Image credit: NOAA

NOAA Conducts Interdisciplinary Research Cruise in the Caribbean Aboard the Nancy Foster

AOML partnered with NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) to conduct an interdisciplinary research cruise aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster from April 11, 2015 through June 3, 2015. The cruise began in the U.S. Virgin Islands and extended westward across the northern Caribbean to Mexico. Researchers from various institutions conducted a myriad of biological and physical oceanographic surveys during the three month cruise.

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In-situ surface current velocity from ADCP (red vectors) and CTD station markers are shown for the July 2010 survey. Marker colors indicate the station θ-S profile classification as either GCW, LCW, EFCW, Coastal Shelf Water (green), or mixed-interleaved (black). Stations lacking waters denser than σθ = 24.0 kg m-3 are shown as small black dots. Prototype profile locations are indicated by an "x" and an enlarged marker. Letters identify selected sections along the cruise track. Image Credit: NOAA AOML.

Oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico in July 2010, during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Results from collaborative research conducted by AOML and NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, were recently published in Continental Shelf Research (December, 2013). PhOD oceanographers R. Smith, E. Johns, G. Goni, J. Trinanes, and R. Lumpkin, in collaboration with other researchers at AOML (M. Wood, C. Kelble, and S. Cummings) and SEFSC (J. Lamkin and S. Privoznik) report on the surface and subsurface connectivity across the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during July 2010.

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